The Sin Offering
We come now to the non-sweet savour offerings.
The special feature of this offering is in the whole bullock being burnt upon the ground outside the camp of Israel after the blood and fat were put upon the altar for God. This offering was for sin and pictures to us Christ who was made sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21) and endured the judgment and wrath of God against sin in our stead as our substitute.
The holiness of God and the awfulness of sin are brought out in the bullock being entirely burnt up outside the camp. It pictures Christ, forsaken of God, as our Sin-bearer as given in Psalm 22 and Mark's Gospel.
The bull's hide and all its flesh . . . burn it on wood with fire:
The valuable hide and the meat of the bull were burnt outside the camp, along with the worthless portions of the bull. It could not be offered to God, but it was burned as if it were a worthless thing.
All selfish motives had to be removed in the sin offering. If a priest brought the offering, the whole offering had to be destroyed.
If a non-priest brought the offering, the priest could eat of it, but not the one bringing the sacrifice. You couldn’t bring a sin offering because you wanted meat or leather, but only because you wanted to get right with God. This emphasized the idea that there is no benefit to our sin.
The Apostle Paul expressed this attitude of heart in Philippians 3:7-8: But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.
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